Icy Weather Conditions Thursday Night into Friday Morning

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Today's forecast:
Jackson, MS-------High 31 Low 29

Starkville, MS-----High 34 Low 29

Meridian, MS------High 36 Low 31

Vicksburg, MS-----High 31 Low 27

Greenwood, MS----High 34 Low 27

Tupelo, MS--------High 38 Low 29

Hattiesburg, MS---High 34 Low 34

Pascagoula, MS----High 38 Low 36




~Jackson, MS

Currently~as of 6:10a.m.
Oh what a winter it has certainly been for the 2010-2011 year! We are having very cold temperatures here in south and it seems like we are always having a chance for snow. Elsewhere, historic blizzards in many parts of the states right now. It's even been called "The Great Groundhog Blizzard" by some meteorologists and it has produced historic amounts of heavy snow, freezing rain, and dangerously cold and windy conditions. Dr. Jeff Masters, blogger for the wunderground.com, states that over half an inch of ice has caused power outages in Indianapolis and even more in such states like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Blizzard conditions across Chicago is still continuing with up to two inches of snow falling per hour along with high and strong winds. Chicago's O'Hare Airport has already received over 19.6" of snow and with more to come could possibly become Chicago's worst snowstorm in history. Many people from the Southern Plain have suffered lots of power outages and the strong effects of this winter storm. Visit http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1740 for more information and pictures.

In other news, Australia was hit with a Category 4 Cyclone this morning. Yasi, the Cyclone name, had winds of up to 155mph when it hit falling 5mph short of being a Category 5. However, Yasi is currently one of Australia's top ten strongest storms to hit since 1970.

Luckily, here we are not experiencing anything near a blizzard or cyclone for that matter. Nonetheless, we are still having cold temperatures here in the south and these cold temperatures will lead to rough and icy conditions later today.

What's Happening Atmospherically
Right now, we are under alot of high clouds and moisture as we have a closed low pressure system that is bringing some precipitation to southern portion of MS. A very complex forecast today as the precipitation will lead to more of a wintry mix. In the Jackson and surrounding area, we will mostly just see dense and heavy cloud coverage between this morning and early afternoon. As a surface low pressure system emerges from the south, it will push precipitation further north and we will start to have some type of moisture by mid to late afternoon hours or close to around dinner time. Also, we have a trough to our west that contains a shallow pocket of cold air. The combination of moisture and this cold air will give us our ice event. Very briefly we will start with rain but most of the period will mostly be made up of freezing rain. Temperatures will hover around the freezing mark thus allowing for freezing precips. Some areas will see some small flurries out of this but mostly this will be an ice event as the upper atmosphere will be limited and dry to produce any amount of significant snow.

Due to this event, the NWS(National Weather Service) has issued warnings both a Winter Storm and a Hard Freeze. The Winter Storm Warning is in effect from noon today to 9am Friday morning. A Winter Storm Warning is usually issued because of significant sleet and ice that will impact the area making travel dangerous. A Hard Freeze Warning is in effect until noon today. Basically signifying temperatures being below freezing for extended periods.

In the Jackson area, about an half an inch of ice and sleet are expecting to accumulate throughout the period of Thursday evening into Friday morning. This will certainly make traveling very dangerous, so please be careful traveling home from work tonight and especially Friday morning. Friday morning will be especially dangerous because of the accumulations of ice. The best thing to do is probably to head out early for your morning commute to work or school just so you don't have to speed or be in any type of rush. These type of road conditions are not the type of conditions that you won't to be speeding through. Remember, bridges will have the greatest impact so be careful driving over them. Water pipes and any type of vegetation needs to definitely be covered and put inside. Be sure to stay updated with your local weather stations as well as some jobs and schools could be closed for tomorrow.
As temperatures warm up Friday morning, the wintry mix will mostly turn to rain. I don't mean to harp on these conditions, but traveling carefully tomorrow will be necessary with the combination of ice and rain all together. Rain should persist throughout the majority of the day. It should start to slack by the evening hours and will be entirely gone Saturday morning as high pressure sets back in.

Today
Rain should begin to push into the Jackson area by mid to late afternoon hour and we will start off with freezing rain. This should last throughout Thursday night and into Friday. A mostly cloudy day with highs in the lower 30s. Winds from the northwest between 5-10 mph will make the air around us feel more like in the 20s(wind chill).

Tonight
Another cold night with freezing rain for the majority of it. An accumulation of about an 1/2 inch of ice is forecasted. Freezing rain and sleet should continue throughout the night and end Friday morning. Lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s.

Friday's outlook
Wintry mix will be done by the time you head to work, but rain will still be in the forecast. Again, travel cautiously as lingering showers will progress throughout the day. Highs only in the upper 30s.

Long-term
After Saturday, we will get some time to recover from all the rain and wintry mix as the weekend looks to be rain-free. On Sunday, we actually could be back around our normal in the 50s. Next week, more arctic air will pour in. Monday night will be very cold. We could see temperatures in the teens! Also, next Wednesday looks pretty interesting considering we may have a good chance of snow here.

I'll continue to monitor that system, so be sure to stay tuned to my weather blog. What a winter! Stay warm, be safe, and God bless!

Winter Storm Brings Another Blast Of Cold Air

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Today's forecast:
Jackson, MS-------High 38 Low 25

Starkville, MS-----High 40 Low 25

Meridian, MS------High 43 Low 25

Vicksburg, MS-----High 38 Low 23

Greenwood, MS----High 36 Low 20

Tupelo, MS--------High 34 Low 22

Hattiesburg, MS---High 45 Low 27

Pascagoula, MS----High 49 Low 31




~Jackson, MS

Currently~as of 6:20a.m.
Happy Groundhog Day to you and I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm on this cold day. Despite the cold air in place this morning, Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog failed to see his shadow this morning. According to folklore, since Phil did not see his shadow then that means an early spring. Otherwise if he did, it would have signified six more weeks of winter. Now, this is all part of folklore and fun and the groundhog has no sort of predictive skills. This has been awhile for now since 1887. We will see later in our to if Phil has any sort of truth in his prediction.

There is also alot of news going on today such as National Signing Day for all the high school players. Elsewhere across the globe, Australia is dealing with a very strong cyclone Yasi, which is now a deadly Category-5 cyclone. Wind gusts of over 180mph with a surface pressure of 942mb!
So, the winter storm here in the U.S. isn't the only type of weather that's going on across the world today. Speaking of the winter storm, it has really brought in cold air into our region dropping temperatures last night into the lower 20s. Brrr! Current temperatures right now are still in the twenties across MS with the wind making conditions feel even colder.

Let's see if Phil knows what he's talking about.

What's Happening Atmospherically
The surface low that brought in precipitation and issued in cold air behind it has moved off toward our east and right behind it has settled in high pressure which is allowing for cold arctic air to flow here in the southern region from the north. This 1046mb arctic high pressure located in the Rockies currently will allow for sunshine today, though the day will be highlighted by cold temperatures with an even colder wind chill. There is still a tight gradient between this high pressure and the surface low from yesterday. From these two pressures, strong winds have been induced and is what is causing our wind chill(how the air feels to a person) to be so cool. So even with temperatures struggling to make it into the 40s, it will feel much cooler than that and numbers could be around the lower 30s. We even had reports of strong winds on yesterday according to the Storm Prediction Center. Fifty-three reports or accounts of wind damages on yesterday stretching from east TX to southern AL.

A very brief stretch of sunshine today as heavy cloud conditions will begin to move back in tonight and into tomorrow where our next chance of precipitation lies. A closed low from the south will start to stretch northward into MS. For late Thursday afternoon, MS will have rain in its region but only in the southern portion at the time mainly below Interstate 20. It is fairly tough to say if Jackson will be receiving rain at this time as models show that it is borderline with moisture. However, both the GFS, HPC, and Bufkit display the Jackson area and all the northern area finally receiving rain early Friday morning. It will be due because of a surface low which will help to push moisture further north and this should come by either later Thursday night into early Friday morning. Models should be little clearer later today and tomorrow upon the arrival of rain. Just under 0.50 inch of rain here in Jackson and much more in the south.

The main story with this precipition, however, is the chance for wintry mix. Low temperatures will once again fall into below freezing temperatures. This will set us up for a bit of wintry mix. Right now, models are mostly calling for freezing rain. Freezing rain is when rain falls on a freezing surface therefore freezing upon contact. Bufkit shows the atmosphere being to warm to produce any snow especially here in the Jackson area and mainly throughout most of MS. You may see some flurries at time especially with the atmosphere trying to squeeze all the moisture that it has out. Mostly, we'll just have freezing and cold rain. This will make travel conditions dangerous for Friday morning with icy roads, so please be careful as you make your morning commute.

Today
Unlike yesterday, we will see the sun mostly out for today with sunny skies. Temperatures will not be pleasant as highs will be around the upper 30s and lower 40s across MS. Highs will be roughly 15-20 degrees below our average highs. Wind chill could be as low as 20 as winds will be from the northwest at 10 to 13 mph.

Tonight
Temperatures will take another drastic drop as we'll end up around the mid 20s again. More clouds will begin to move into the area with winds of 5 to 10 mph from the northwest.

Thursday's outlook
Throughout the day on Thursday, more clouds will begin progressing into the region ahead of our rain maker for Thursday afternoon. We may start off with light showers through the morning and afternoon hours and by nightfall will switch to heavier rain and freezing rain. Highs in the upper 30s once more.

Long-term
Light rain and moisture should persist throughout Friday and finally leave by Saturday. Cold air will still be around but we do have a chance of warming back up into the 50s by Sunday. As far as Punxsutawney Phil prediction of an early spring, according to ECMWF (European model) next Tuesday night could be our coldest night so far this winter. So our early spring season will have to be put on hold for right now. Prepare for a strong blast of cold arctic air next week.


Stay warm today and enjoy this brief period of sunshine. God bless!